CURRENT STATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION MANAGEMENT IN THE BAMENDA MUNICIPALITY

Authors: Tizih Mirabel Ngum, Fombe Lawrence Fon & Sop Sop Maturine Desire

ABSTRACT

Environmental sanitation is a fundamental process with the intention of protecting the environment and promoting health and the quality of life of communities. Sanitation in the Bamenda municipality is worsened due to inadequate housing facilities: toilets, drainage, water supply and ubiquitous littering with domestic wastes. This study sets out to examine the current state of environmental sanitation across the municipality. The study employs both an explanatory and descriptive survey using qualitative and quantitative methods, SPSS version 20, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word 2016 to analyse the results. Findings reveal that majority of households (86.6%) use illegal dumpsites, while only 13.4% rely on approved dump sites. Over 67.8% households have access to pipe borne water while 32.2 use doubtful sources. 36.8% use pit latrines, 21.1% have access to flush toilets and 21.1% used both pit and flush toilet, while 13.1% practice open defecation. Over 68.4% dispose untreated wastewater into nature with only 31.6% using drains/gutters. Some 23.7% households with children under 5 safely dispose of their fecal waste. Treating drinking water is imperative and also crucial to implement proper hygiene and sanitation measures to safeguard the population’s health in a quest to attain sustainable development of the municipality.

Keywords: Environmental Sanitation, waste management, Bamenda, Municipality, Dumpsite

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